Letter from W. H. Auden to H. W. Henze, October 10, 1965
Settings
Show markers in text
Context
Absolute Chronology
Preceding
- 1965-09-29: to Henze
- 1965-10-06: from Henze
Following
- 1965-10-20: to Henze
- 1965-12-05: from Henze
[Manuscript]
Kirchstetten
Hinterholz 6
N.-Ö.‡, Austria
You can imagine what a red-letter
day* it was for us when your telegram
arrived.* (I hope you got ours‡). Have you any
idea when Salzburg will decide on the
exact date?* I ask because of the difficulty
of getting accommodation in the Festspiel
season, unless booked well in advance. We are
thinking of staying at a pension on the
Mondsee rather than in Salzburg itself.*
I should have written you before to tell you
what nice things I heard from friends about
the Juilliard
Elegy.* The only trouble, I gathered
was that Mittenhofer was too young to have
authority, but that was inevitable.
Unexpectedly, Faber’s have called for a new
definitive Collected Shorter Poems
*, so I have been
mostly busy the last six weeks or so, revising
Chester’s work and gnashing my teeth at
my incompetence and carelessness. I feel as if
I am‡ only just‡ now just beginning to get‡ a grip on
my craft.
I leave here on the 21st for ten days in England.*
during which your mother had to teach‡ in
Oxford. subject: Die Wörte und das Wort.‡
Die menschliche Wörte und das Wort Gottes.*
Then on the 31st back to New York.
Chester plans to spend the winter in Wien.
much love from us both‡ and do drop us a line‡ when
you have time.
Wystan.
Editorial
Responsibilities
- Editor(s)
- Elena Minetti
- Transcription
- Elena Minetti; Joachim Veit
Tradition
-
Text Source: Basel (Schweiz), Paul Sacher Stiftung (CH-Bps), Sammlung Hans Werner Henze, Abteilung: Korrespondenz
Shelf mark: Auden, Wystan HughPhysical Description
- Document type: Letter
- Briefpapier_Auden_Kirchstetten
- Faltung: 1mal längs, 1mal quer
- Wasserzeichen: “Myrtle Mill” mit dem “B” in Wappen
- 1 folio
- 2 written pages
- Dimensions: 298x210 [mm] (HxW)
- Gelocht
- Rand: 3,8 cm
- Eingerückte Absätze
Material
Extent
Condition
Layout
Writing styles
-
1.Handwriting, Auden, Wystan Hugh, ballpoint pen (blue).
Text Constitution
-
"am""was" crossed out and replaced with "am"
-
"just"crossed out
-
"just beginning to get""" (uncertain transcription) replaced with "just beginning to get"
-
"teach"uncertain transcription
-
"Die Wörte und das Wort."crossed out
-
"from us both"added above
-
"drop us a line"uncertain transcription
Commentary
-
"… Oct 10 th 1965"The date is ascertained by the fact that, at the beginning of the letter, Auden mentions the exchange of telegrams concerning the completion of the full score of The Bassarids. The telegram from the two librettists dated 29 September 1965, replying to Henze, is preserved. The date is also confirmed by the fact that Auden is talking about his lectures in Oxford, which took place in October 1965. Moreover, Auden asks Henze about the date of the premiere of The Bassarids in Salzburg, that was to be held on 6 August 1966.
-
"N.-Ö."abbreviation of "Niederösterreich".
-
"… imagine what a red-letter day"The idiom “red-letter day” indicates an important day, because something of special significance happened.
-
"… us when your telegram arrived."The telegram Auden refers to here has yet to be located. However, it can be assumed that the news Henze announces concerned the completion of the full score of The Bassarids, gives as 28 September 1965 in his Autobiography, p. 208.
-
"… decide on the exact date?"In his letter of 6 October 1965, Henze had already told Auden that The Bassarids was scheduled for 6 August 1966, but Auden (who was in Kirchstetten) had yet to receive this letter from Berlin, as it had only been five days.
-
"… rather than in Salzburg itself."The two librettists booked a hotel on Lake Mondsee, an hour away from Salzburg. See Auden’s letter on 10 October 1965.
-
"… about the Juilliard Elegy ." Elegy for Young Lovers was performed in its US premiere on 29 April 1965, conducted by Henze himself at The Juilliard Opera Theate in New York.
-
"… new definitive Collected Shorter Poems"The Collected Shorter Poems by W.H. Auden would be published by Faber and Faber in London, in 1966.
-
"… und das Wort Gottes ."Auden gave a talk during the Evensong service at Christ Church, Oxford, on 24 October 1965, entitled “Words & the Word”, picking up the title of his course in Oxford. See “Words and the Word”, in The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, vol. 5, Prose: 1963-1968, pp. 404-407.